The director, under the direction and supervision of the
secretary, shall be the executive officer of the Purchasing
Division and shall have the power and duty to:

(1) Direct the activities and employees of the Purchasing
Division;

(2) Ensure that the purchase of or contract for commodities
and services shall be based, whenever possible, on competitive bid;

(3) Purchase or contract for, in the name of the state, the
commodities, services and printing required by the spending units
of the state government;

(4) Apply and enforce standard specifications established in
accordance with section five of this article as hereinafter
provided;

(5) Transfer to or between spending units or sell commodities
that are surplus, obsolete or unused as hereinafter provided;

(6) Have charge of central storerooms for the supply of
spending units, as the director deems advisable;

(7) Establish and maintain a laboratory for the testing of
commodities and make use of existing facilities in state
institutions for that purpose as hereinafter provided, as the
director deems advisable;

(8) Suspend the right and privilege of a vendor to bid on
state purchases when the director has evidence that such vendor has violated any of the provisions of the purchasing law or the rules
and regulations of the director;

(9) Examine the provisions and terms of every contract entered
into for and on behalf of the State of West Virginia that impose
any obligation upon the state to pay any sums of money for
commodities or services and approve each such contract as to such
provisions and terms; and the duty of examination and approval
herein set forth does not supersede the responsibility and duty of
the Attorney General to approve such contracts as to form:
Provided, That the provisions of this subdivision do not apply in
any respect whatever to construction or repair contracts entered
into by the Division of Highways of the Department of
Transportation: Provided, however, That the provisions of this
subdivision do not apply in any respect whatever to contracts
entered into by the University of West Virginia Board of Trustees
or by the Board of Directors of the State College System, except to
the extent that such boards request the facilities and services of
the director under the provisions of this subdivision;

(10) Assure that the specifications and descriptions in all
solicitations are prepared so as to provide all potential
suppliers-vendors who can meet the requirements of the state an
opportunity to bid and to assure that the specifications and
descriptions do not favor a particular brand or vendor. If the
director determines that any such specifications or descriptions as written favor a particular brand or vendor or if it is decided,
either before or after the bids are opened, that a commodity or
service having different specifications or quality or in different
quantity can be bought, the director may rewrite the solicitation
and the matter shall be rebid; and

(11) Issue a notice to cease and desist to a spending unit
when the director has credible evidence that a spending unit has
violated competitive bidding or other requirements established by
this article and the rules promulgated hereunder. Failure to abide
by such notice may result in penalties set forth in section
seventeen of this article.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.